Any Given Sunday

The Institute for Research on the Signs of the Times (DISCERN) within the catholic Archdiocese of Malta will be holding a census concerning attendance to Sunday mass around the Maltese islands. DISCREN director Fr Joe Inguanez will be revealing details about this census during a press conference at the Archbishop's Curia in Floriana on Tuesday morning.

No one doubts the declining figures for Sunday church attendance in Malta and Gozo over the past 30 years. Previous surveys conducted by the curia clearly document a downward trend. This year's census will measure how severe the downturn in church-going has become. It will also give those who argue against the powers of the catholic church over Maltese society some leverage towards insisting that religious beliefs should not bear any consequence to social policies regarding divorce, reproduction rights, and homosexual affairs.

While the social ramifications from the census are of logical concern for the curia, there are other factors to take into consideration. Foremost among issues raised by the dwindling numbers at Sunday mass in catholic churches is the increase in converts and followers that other Christian churches appear to enjoy, as well as a growing number of non-Christian faiths taking root in Malta.

A Sunday Mass Census held in the Maltese Islands in December 1995 showed attendance of around 67%. The results of the current census will be remarkably newsworthy if attendance to Sunday mass has gone up over during the 10 years since that census.

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